Mary's story is another simple example of how there are resources and outlets available to all of us at every turn. Many of my fellow Boomers are struggling to follow a narrow career reinvention path that they believe is all they can do -- but that path is merely shaped by their past experience.

Procedures were not clear. Classroom doors did not lock. Communication systems were not consistent; students received information sooner in many cases than did the faculty. I believe this lack of preparedness is true across our nation.

Purdue places a strong emphasis on academics and a lot of students are here on scholarship. That means that many are either too busy with school to care about fashion or simply don't have it in the budget to sport the latest trends.

Big Coal and Big Oil spent more than half a billion dollars lobbying and on political campaigns in the past two years. Now they're demanding a return on that investment and elected officials are too eager to comply.